REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ordered day to day monitoring of the prices of essential goods and immediate measure to keep the price stability. The stability of the prices of essential goods is important to keep inflation under control.

Jokowi's attention was drawn to price stability after a surge in rice price lately. Observers attributed the surge in rice price to problem in distribution and delay in harvest.

The president said the surge in rice price could have been prevented as the price already began to pick up since December last year. "Immediate measure should be taken against even the slightest increase in price," he said during cabinet meeting on Wednesday, February 4.

He said the impact of deflation in two successive months until February this year was good for the country's economy and the purchasing power of the people. The country recorded a deflation of 0.24 percent in January and 0.43 percent in February.

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